Watervliet Arsenal wins $4.2 million U.S. Army contract

WATERVLIET -- The Watervliet Arsenal announced Friday that it received a $4.2 million contract from the U.S. Army to manufacture a new lightweight 60mm mortar baseplate that will enhance soldiers' ability to move more quickly across the battlefield, while also reducing logistical requirements.

"This multimillion-dollar order will add to our current workload more than 14,000 hours of direct labor hours," said Jake Peart, the arsenal's chief of production control and program management. "We will begin shipping in the fall of 2013 and we will complete our production in the spring of 2015."

The new M7A2 baseplate the arsenal will manufacture may be used in a conventional firing mode or from a hand-held firing position and weighs only 4.8 pounds.

The arsenal will continue to manufacture baseplates for the legacy 60mm mortar system, the M224, until the Army completes its fielding of the newer, lightweight mortar system.

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Orders for Watervliet's mortars have greatly increased since 2007 due directly to the type of ground combat that the U.S. military has been doing in Afghanistan. In the last 12 months, the arsenal has manufactured more than 5,000 various mortar parts, from tubes to baseplates.

The U.S. Army's Benét Laboratories designed the M7A2 baseplate. Benét Labs is collocated on the Watervliet Arsenal and is a Department of the Army research, development and engineering facility. It is a part of the Weapons & Software Engineering Center, Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center which is located at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.

The Watervliet Arsenal is an Army-owned and operated manufacturing facility and is the oldest, continuously active arsenal in the United States, having begun operations during the War of 1812.

Today's arsenal is relied upon by U.S. and foreign militaries to produce the most advanced, high-tech, high-powered weaponry for cannon, howitzer and mortar systems. This National Historic Registered Landmark has an annual economic benefit to the local community in excess of $100 million.